A 16-year-old girl was shot after a gunman opened fire at a crowd in a drive-by attack in Manchester's Moss Side. By sheer luck the victim's injuries are not serious.
Police say a single shot was fired from a car into a group of people who were stood outside an address where a party was taking place. The teenager is being treated in hospital.
In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said: "We’re investigating a drive-by shooting in Manchester last night that has left a teenage girl hospitalised. Shortly before 10.30pm on Friday (29 July) we were called to a report of a person injured outside an address on Quinney Crescent in the Moss Side area of the city.
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"The victim – a 16-year-old girl – was taken to hospital in a stable condition with a wound that is believed to have been caused by a firearms discharge. Thankfully, her physical injuries are understood to not be serious and our officers are with her and her family as she continues to recover in hospital.
"Detectives from our Longsight CID are investigating the incident and believe that a single shot was fired by a passing vehicle at a crowd outside the address where a party was being held. It is not thought that the girl was the intended target but enquiries are moving at pace to establish the reason for the incident and – ultimately – the people responsible for it."
A large cordon remains in place today at the scene. GMP said: "We thank the local community for their cooperation while this takes place. We have additional officers patrolling the area this weekend and encourage anyone with concerns or information to approach us to talk in confidence. No arrests have been made and we are urging people who saw or heard anything to contact us, or to call Crimestoppers if they don’t want their name and details to be known to us."
Chief Superintendent Robert Cousen, commander of our City of Manchester division, said: “My thoughts are with the victim whose physical injuries are thankfully not serious and she is able to talk to our officers in hospital, but that does not diminish what could’ve happened here as incidents of this nature are always reckless, serious and risk lives being lost.
“We’re doing all we can to unpick the circumstances of this incident and to ensure that whoever is responsible is caught and brought to justice. This involves a lot of work that has been going on overnight - and continues into today - on Quinney Crescent and the surrounding area, as well as extensive investigative work beyond the scene to progress this investigation as quickly as possible.
“I thank the local community for their support and cooperation while this takes place and ask anyone with information to get in touch, as we know there was a party happening last night that we are confident will provide us with a number of potential witnesses to what occurred.”
Anyone with information should contact GMP online via the LiveChat facility on their website, or by calling 0161 856 4382 quoting incident 3388 of 29/07/2022. Details can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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